Born in Huntsville, Alabama in 1914, he began his career on the New York stage and also performed in several films during the late 1930s. During World War II, Townes enlisted in the Army, returning to film and theater in 1946 after the war's end.

His credits eventually amassed a body of work that consisted of 29 movie appearances and over two hundred television parts. On the big screen, he appeared in The Brothers Karamazov, the 1958 film adaptation of Dostoyevsky's novel, alongside William Shatner and David Opatoshu. He had a guest starring role in the television series The Incredible Hulk as Dell Frye, a man who was able to transform into a Hulk-like creature (portrayed by Dick Durock) 30 years before David Banner. In 1970, he was part of the cast of the TV-movie The Andersonville Trial, which co-starred William Shatner, John Anderson, Whit Bissell, Kenneth Tobey, and Ian Wolfe.